As China declares its coronavirus case numbers are starting to recede, the death toll in Italy due the pandemic has reached 2,978 on Thursday, March 19, with worries that it will soon surpass the largest toll worldwide with a loss of 3,245 lives in China so far.

China is the first country to suffer the spread of the disease in a population of over 1.3 billion, whereas Italy’s population is 60.4 million.

As of today, the global death toll of the coronavirus has reached 9,285 in 176 countries and territories, with 226,157 infected people of whom 6,896 are in serious or critical condition.

China’s National Health Commission declared yesterday that the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, Hubei, recorded no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since the start of the pandemic; a sign that the disease is receding.

Also read: Coronavirus death toll passes 7,000 as WHO urges world to 'test, test, test'